THE EX-HEAD OF A TOBACCO FACTORY IN THE TAMBOV REGION WAS DECLARED BANKRUPT

Metalnikov headed the Morshanskaya Tobacco Factory (MTF) after the death of its former owner, deputy of the Tambov region Yuri Petrov. He committed suicide in December 2010 while in solitary confinement in a pre-trial detention center. Prior to that, he was detained by FSB operatives. Petrov was accused of kidnapping businessman Ilya Fedorov from Krasnodar. The reason was a debt of 28 million rubles, which Petrov demanded from the businessman as a ransom. Fedorov was rescued from the basement of a house in Morshansk.

In the fall of 2018, Metalnikov received a sentence of three years and ten months. The court found the ex-head and owner of the factory guilty of defrauding the Federal Tax Service. In February 2020, four more years were added to the previous sentence on charges of abuse of authority.

A month later, Metalnikov was found guilty of another financial crime. As a result, the former head of the tobacco factory was sentenced to 7.5 years in aggregate for his crimes. According to Kommersant, the initiator of the bankruptcy was the tax authorities, the main debt amounted to 1.19 billion rubles.

Metalnikov's bankruptcy was not easy. In 2022, the court refused to continue the process, since the businessman did not have any property to pay court costs and settle with creditors. However, soon the case of the insolvency of the ex-head went for a new examination.

The Morshansky district Court found that the funds from the income received, not paid to the treasury as tax payments, the defendant spent on the purchase of real estate. The property of Metalnikov was issued to relatives. The employees of the Federal Tax Service considered that the transactions could be challenged.

MTF went under surveillance at the end of 2018. At first, the local firm Triada took the initiative of bankruptcy, indicating 3 million rubles as a debt. At the same time, the arbitration considered the claim of the "Triad" in the amount of 1.3 billion. The proof of it was a loan agreement signed by Yuri Petrov.

As Kommersant reported, a document worth 1.3 billion was in the bag of the head of the Triad, Sergei Frolov, on the car seat. The contract was stolen from the car by the repeatedly convicted Nikitin. The police managed to detain him, the document was returned to the owner along with a man's bag worth 900 rubles. Nikitin received 3.5 years of strict regime for a series of thefts.

In the spring of 2019, MTF received the status of bankrupt. The tax authorities tried to include the factory's debt to the budget in the register, but missed the deadline. The amount was recognized as justified, but they will be able to recover it only if any assets remain after the claims of other creditors are satisfied.

Photo by Freepik